31 May | LaunchLab Talk | Picsa – “Thinking through funding”

The journey of financial startup, Picsa, was one that was punctuated with successes, failures and, most importantly, with unique learnings. And its CEO, Paul Kim, would like to share them all with you.

A LaunchLab alumnus, Picsa began when founder Pieter Wasserfall decided it was his responsibility to free his family farm’s employees from ruin. The idea was to get vulnerable, lower-income individuals off the grid of traditional (often unethical, always risky) financial services, and see them ushered into a more prosperous, inclusive and sustainable financial future.

Picsa was born, meekly, as a social initiative, but quickly became a commercial triumph. One of the reasons for this was how they built innovative, impactful products that actually served the needs of their clientele – the farm worker. But another critical reason was that the company truly understood their own funding needs, and their funding timeline. Funding, as we know, can either make, or very quickly break early-stage businesses…

“Funding is an important resource for startups,” says Paul. “However, as with any power tool, it can be dangerous in the wrong hands and at worst, life-threatening.”

We invite you to attend the next great LaunchLab Talk where guest speaker Paul Kim, CEO of Picsa, will talk about the company’s experiences, to help you better replicate his company’s successes in your own world.

“This talk walks through some of the disadvantages of raising equity funding from a real startups perspective,” he promises, “and shares some mental models to help entrepreneurs better understand the impact of raising equity funding.”

What Paul knows may very well change the way you see early-stage financing and redefine your own business’ journey to success.

We’re excited to welcome him, and you, to the newest LaunchLab Talk event which, as always, will be closed by drinks and networking with like-minded individuals.